Children's Psychological Maladjustment Research Articles

Children under fire: The role of maternal caregiving, reflection functioning, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

The study seeks to examine the psychological maladjustment of children who are exposed to continuous terror attacks. It is hypothesized that maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may hinder mothers' sensitive and responsive caregiving, reflective functioning, and viewing of her child (as "difficult"), which can subsequently negatively impact their children's psychological adjustment. A cohort of 235 mother-child dyads participated in the study. The children's (aged 7-11; 43% boys) psychological maladjustment was assessed by the PAQ. The mothers completed the DSM-5 checklist for PTSD, Caregiving System Functioning scale, Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire, and Difficult Child scale. High levels of maternal PTSD, high scores of avoidant caregiving, and low reflective functioning of the mother predicted the child's psychological maladjustment. Maternal levels of PTSD moderated the associations between maternal avoidant caregiving and reflection, and child's maladjustment, whereas perceiving the child as difficult moderated the association between maternal reflection and child maladjustment. The findings suggest that, to enhance the psychological adjustment of children confronted with stressful life situations, their mothers must be able to process their traumatizing experiences, or else they may struggle to provide their children with emotional regulation and support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Overparenting and psychological well‐being of emerging adult children in the United States and China

AbstractObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate (a) the association between overparenting and emerging‐adult children's psychological maladjustment through basic psychological needs satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) and (b) whether the associations, particularly the associations between overparenting and needs satisfaction, vary by cultures.BackgroundResearch in Western countries suggests that overparenting may undermine emerging‐adult children's psychological well‐being. This raises the question of whether overparenting influences emerging adults in a similar way in the collectivistic cultures in Eastern countries where overparenting may be perceived differently.MethodSurvey data were obtained from college students in the United States (N = 414, Mage = 20.38) and China (N = 612, Mage = 20.21).ResultsStructural equation modeling yielded two major findings. First, largely in line with the view of cultural universalism, in both the United States and China, overparenting was linked to emerging adults' psychological maladjustment through lower basic needs satisfaction. Second, supporting the view of cultural relativism, the negative relations between maternal overparenting and needs satisfaction were stronger in the United States than in China.ConclusionOverparenting was associated with emerging‐adult children's lower basic needs satisfaction and more well‐being problems; however, the strength of the association between overparenting and needs satisfaction varied across cultures.Implications.The principle of universalism without uniformity applies to overparenting.

Paternal rejection, psychological maladjustment, and child emotional eating: Path analysis in 8- to 11-year-old boys and girls

We examined the impact of paternal rejection (based on father's and children's reports) on the children's emotional eating behavior and if child psychological maladjustment mediated this relationship. Three hundred sixty-nine dyads of fathers and children were screened using self-report measures of demographic data, parental rejection, child psychological maladjustment, and disordered eating behavior. Children's subjective perceptions of relationship with father have more impact on their psychological outcomes and unhealthy dietary patterns than father reported parenting quality. Children's unhealthy psychological adjustment may be an essential underlying mechanism linking perceived paternal rejection of children's emotional eating behaviors.

Does Emotional Dependence and Perceived Parental Acceptance Predict Children's Psychological Maladjustment?

ObjectiveTo analyze associations among child dependence, perceived parental acceptance, and children's psychological adjustment.BackgroundExtreme levels of both perceived parental acceptance and rejection are postulated to be associated with dependence in such a way that may lead to psychological maladjustment. However, this influence has not been empirically tested to date.MethodA convenience sample of 989 children (9–16 years of age, 45.7% boys) in Spain completed the Personality Assessment Questionnaire, the Youth Self Report (YSR), and the Parental Acceptance–Rejection Questionnaire for children. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regressions.ResultsChild dependence and parental acceptance had a curvilinear relationship and were both associated with children's psychological maladjustment. Children's dependence, family structure, and children's age moderated the relationship between parental rejection and children's maladjustment.ConclusionResults provide empirical support for the postulated relationships between perceived parental acceptance and child dependence and show the relevance of considering children's age and family structure as potential moderators. Furthermore, child dependence tends to buffer the impact of parental rejection in certain individuals.ImplicationsChild dependence and parental rejection should be considered together in parenting intervention programs. Moreover, promoting dependence could be part of this intervention in certain family settings.

Emotions in school and symptoms of psychological maladjustment from kindergarten to first grade

The associations between children’s (N = 301) observed expression of positive and negative emotion in school and symptoms of psychological maladjustment (i.e., depressive and externalizing symptoms) were examined from kindergarten to first grade. Positive and negative emotional expressivity levels were observed in school settings, and teachers reported on measures of children’s externalizing and depressive symptoms. In longitudinal panel models testing bidirectional paths, depressive symptoms in kindergarten were negatively associated with positive expressivity in first grade but not vice versa. Children’s externalizing symptoms in kindergarten predicted higher negative expressivity in school in first grade. There was also significant prediction of externalizing in first grade by negative expressivity during kindergarten. Implications about child psychological maladjustment in early schooling are discussed.

Similarities amid the difference: Caregiving burden and adaptation outcomes in dyads of parents and their children with and without cerebral palsy

This study had two main objectives: first, to examine the direct and indirect effects, via social support, of caregiving burden on the adaptation outcomes of children/adolescents with cerebral palsy and their parents; and second, to assess the invariance of such models in clinical vs. healthy subsamples. Participants were 210 dyads of children/adolescents and one of their parents (total N=420), divided in 93 dyads of children/adolescents with cerebral palsy and 117 dyads of children/adolescents with no medical diagnosis. Data on caregiving burden, social support and adaptation outcomes were obtained through self-report questionnaires. Caregiving burden was linked to parents and their children's psychological maladjustment and quality of life both directly (except for children's quality of life) and indirectly through social support. Findings were invariant across clinical and healthy subsamples. Caregiving burden may influence adaptation outcomes of children/adolescents with CP and their parents both directly and via their social support perceptions. These patterns are similar to those observed in typically developing children/adolescents.

Family conflict, autonomic nervous system functioning, and child adaptation: State of the science and future directions

The family is one of the primary contexts of child development. Marital and parent-child conflict (family conflict) are common and predict a wide range of negative behavioral and emotional outcomes in children. Thus, an important task for developmental researchers is to identify the processes through which family conflict contributes to children's psychological maladjustment, as well as vulnerability and protective factors in the context of family conflict. In the current paper, we aim to advance a conceptual model that focuses on indices of children's autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning that increase vulnerability or provide protection against psychological maladjustment in the context of family conflict. In doing so, we provide a selective review that reflects the state of the science linking family conflict, children's ANS activity, and child psychological adjustment, and offer directions and guidance for future research. Our hope is to accelerate research at the intersection of family conflict and ANS functioning to advance understanding of risk and resilience among children.

The Inclusion of Fathers in the Empirical Investigation of Child Psychopathology: An Update

This investigation provides an update on the inclusion of fathers in child psychopathology research. Articles published from January 1992 to January 2005 that examined parental contributions to child psychological maladjustment were identified. Each article was coded for child age, parental race, how parent gender was analyzed, type of journal, and year of publication. Overall, results replicated previous reviews (Phares & Compas, 1992), suggesting that fathers continue to be neglected in child psychopathology research. Further analyses revealed (a) higher rates of paternal research involvement as child age increased, (b) studies with a predominantly Caucasian sample included separate analyses for mothers and fathers more frequently than those with predominantly African American samples, (c) paternal research inclusion was higher in clinical compared to developmental psychology journals, and (d) over the past 6 years, more research has included fathers as participants than from the previous 7-year period (1992–1998).

The Role of Maternal Communication Patterns About Interparental Disputes in Associations Between Interparental Conflict and Child Psychological Maladjustment

The present study examined the role of mothers' communication with children about interparental disputes in associations between interparental conflict and child psychological maladjustment in a sample of 227 children and their parents followed over a one-year span. Most of the time (i.e., 79.8%) mothers reported that they would communicate with their children following interparental disputes, with the vast majority of those communications containing relatively constructive depictions of interparental conflict. Post-conflict communications were not associated with children's adjustment above and beyond the impact of interparental conflict. However, maternal communications underscoring family cohesion and warmth, emphasizing remorse for engaging in the interparental disagreement, and denying the occurrence of the dispute each moderated associations between interparental conflict and child externalizing symptoms in distinct, complex ways. The findings in general suggest that not all positive communications have the beneficial impact on children that parents may have intended.

Assessing children's emotional security in the interparental relationship: the Security in the Interparental Subsystem Scales.

Guided by the emotional security hypothesis, this study reports on the development of a new self-report measure that assesses children's strategies for preserving emotional security in the context of interparental conflict. Participants were 924 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders and a subset of their mothers, fathers, and teachers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Security in the Interparental Subsystem (SIS) Scale supported a seven-factor solution, corresponding well to the three component processes (i.e., emotional reactivity, regulation of exposure to parent affect, and internal representations) outlined in the emotional security hypothesis. The SIS subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Support for the validity of the SIS Scale is evidenced by its significant links with parent reports of children's overt reactivity to conflict, children's responses to interparental conflict simulations 6 months later, and children's psychological maladjustment and experiential histories with interparental conflict across multiple informants (i.e., child, mother, father, and teacher). Results are discussed in the context of developing recommendations for use of the SIS and advancing the emotional security hypothesis.

The Interplay between Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Marital Distress in the Prediction of Adolescent Adjustment

We examine the nature and directionality of paths among maternal depressive symptoms, marital distress, and adolescent depressive and externalizing symptoms in 506 adolescent-mother dyads. Structural equation models, used with data from three measurements, were conducted to examine the specificity of marital distress and maternal depressive symptoms as potential mediators of one another in the prediction of adolescent adjustment. Findings from static and dynamic, autoregressive models supported pathways whereby marital distress mediated effects of maternal depressive symptoms on adolescent externalizing symptoms and maternal depressive symptomatology mediated effects of marital distress on adolescent depressive symptoms. Key Words: adolescent adjustment, family discord, interparental distress, maternal depression. Children and adolescents who are exposed to high levels of maternal depressive symptoms exhibit increased risk for a wide range of psychological problems (e.g., Downey & Coyne, 1990). Family socialization models have stressed that incorporating marital distress into the study of maternal depressive symptoms may help to clarify more precisely how and why mothers' depressive symptoms increase children's vulnerability (Coyne, Downey, & Boergers, 1992; Cummings & Davies, 1994b, in press). Empirical bases for these conceptualizations are rooted in consistent reports of interrelations among marital quality, maternal depressive symptoms, and child adjustment. Specifically, maternal depressive symptomatology has been shown to covary to a moderate degree with marital distress (Beach & Nelson, 1990). Exposure to mothers' depressive symptoms and marital distress, in turn, has forecasted a similar range of child problems, encompassing both depressive symptoms and externalizing problems in the form of aggression, delinquency, and other types of misconduct (Cummings & Davies, 1994a). However, advances in the study of marital distress and maternal depression most commonly have occurred independently of one another. As a result, it is equally plausible to interchange maternal depressive symptoms and marital quality in numerous conceptual roles as mediators of one another; distal, indirect predictors; or independent predictors (e.g., Downey & Coyne, 1990; Fincham, 1998). Thus, precisely mapping the etiological pathways among maternal depressive symptoms, marital distress, and child maladjustment remains a critical, unresolved task. Downey and Coyne (1990) distilled two primary types of models for the joint influence of maternal depressive symptoms and marital distress. In the first type of model, the marital-distress-asmediator model, marital distress was hypothesized to be a mediator of the risk posed by maternal depressive symptoms to children's psychological maladjustment. Maternal depressive symptoms are conceptualized as indirectly influencing children's adjustment problems by increasing exposure to marital distress. In contrast, in the second type of model, the maternal-depression-as-mediator model, maternal depressive symptomatology was depicted as a mediator of marital distress. Under these conditions, mothers' marital distress leads to children's adjustment problems primarily by increasing their exposure to maternal depressive symptoms. Downey and Coyne hypothesize that the efficacy of these two models varies systematically across specific forms of children's psychological maladjustment. Higher levels of externalizing problems exhibited by children of depressed mothers were posited as developing out of their exposure to concurrent marital distress. By contrast, the greater vulnerability of children in maritally distressed homes to experiencing depressive symptoms was thought to result, in part, from exposure to concurrent depressive symptoms. Thus, marital distress is conceptualized as mediating the influence of maternal depressive symptoms only in the prediction of child externalizing symptoms (marital distress as mediator), whereas maternal depressive symptoms are proffered to be proximate mediators of the effects of marital distress on child depressive symptoms (maternal depression as mediator). …

The Role of Primary and Secondary Appraisals in the Negative Emotions and Psychological Maladjustment of Children of Divorce

Two hundred and twenty-two children of divorce reported their reactions to stressful life events. They reported the threat posed by the events, self-blame, self-efficacy and negative emotions of sadness, anger and anxiety. Also, children's psychological maladjustment (Depression, Hostility and Anxiety) were assessed. As expected, the children's primary appraisal of threat was associated with all the negative emotions and psychological maladjustments. The role of children's secondary appraisals was confirmed by the findings that high self-blame for the stressful events was associated with the emotion of sadness, and low coping was associated with the psychological maladjustment of Anxiety. Finally, interactions between children's primary and secondary appraisals were observed: the emotions of anger and anxiety and the psychological maladjustments of Hostility and Anxiety increased with increases of self-blame when threat was low, but not when threat was high. The findings were discussed with respect to Lazarus' (1991) Cognitive Theory of Emotion as well as other relevant theories.

Children's Perceptions of Corporal Punishment, Caretaker Acceptance, and Psychological Adjustment in a Poor, Biracial Southern Community

This study explores two related questions about relationships between perceived justness and perceived harshness of corporal punishment, perceived caretaker acceptance-rejection, and children's psychological adjustment: Are children's perceptions of caretaker harshness and unjustness of physical punishment associated with children's psychological maladjustment? Or does the relationship between punishment and maladjustment disappear after controlling for perceived caretaker acceptance-rejection? The research is based on a proportional, stratified, random sample of 281 Black and White youths in grades 3-12 within the public school system of a poor, biracial county of southeastern Georgia. Results of structural equation modeling suggest that physical punishment is associated with children's psychological maladjustment only if punishment is seen by youths as a form of caretaker rejection. The findings contribute information to an ongoing debate about the relationship between physical punishment and children's psychological adjustment. Key Words: children's psychological adjustment, corporal punishment, parental acceptance-rejection. A large national, and even international, controversy exists over whether corporal punishment has negative effects on children's behavioral and psychological adjustment (Simons, Johnson, & Conger, 1994). Even though the popular press and many child advocates criticize the use of corporal punishment, Straus (1977, 1994) and others (Wauchope & Straus, 1990) estimated that 90%-97% of the children in the United States have been physically punished at some time in their lives. Critics of corporal punishment often cite research linking its use with negative outcomes such as increased aggression, delinquency, and psychosocial maladjustment in children (Greven, 1991; Kandel, 1991; Larzelere, 1986; McCord, 1988; Straus, 1991; Turner & Finkelhor, 1996). Harsh physical punishment, in particular, has been correlated with increased displays of aggressive behavior by children (Howes & Elderedge, 1985). Additionally, Bryan and Freed (1982) found that college students who reported receiving a high level of physical punishment when they were younger were significantly more likely to report problems with aggression. In addition to these reports of increased behavioral problems, Sternberg et al. (1993) found that the use of physical punishment is associated with poor selfesteem and emotional problems of youths. Researchers on the other side of the debate cite conflicting evidence and believe that many of the studies linking physical punishment with negative consequences have methodological problems that forbid making such conclusions (Becker, 1964; Erlanger, 1979; Kandel, 1991; Simons et al., 1994). Erlanger, for example, found that the correlation between childhood punishment and adult violence was, in fact, rather low. Baumrind (1966, 1973,1994) argued that when physical punishment is used within a loving family environment, it is effective in reducing unwanted behavior without increasing aggression. Agnew (1983) found that corporal punishment is associated with higher rates of delinquency only when the demands placed on children are inconsistent. If parental demands on the child are consistent, however, corporal punishment was reported to be negatively correlated with delinquency. Conclusions such as these point to a complex relationship between corporal punishment and its correlates. Moreover, Lefkowitz, Eron, Walder, and Huesman (1977) concluded that the relationship between physical punishment and aggression is curvilinear, where high levels of physical punishment are associated with increased aggression, but moderate levels are not. Critics of past research also contend that many of these studies are methodologically flawed because they fail to differentiate between the impact of corporal punishment and the influence of other dimensions of parenting, such as parental noninvolvement and parental rejection (Becker, 1964; Rohner, Kean, & Cournoyer, 1991; Simons et al. …